Spirit of Aloha | Message of Aloha | May/June 2002

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Parade for a King

For Tricia Hodson, who works in Aloha Airlines' customer service, organizing the Kamehameha Day parade in Kailua-Kona calls for many hands working together

Beginning with the first day of May, Lei Day, and continuing through Kamehameha Day in early June, this is a season of particularly rich Hawai'i celebrations. Tropical flowers and Hawaiian music are ubiquitous, and the air is ripe with the promise of summer. Father's Day, Mother's Day, graduation-this is a time when acknowledgments and passages abound.

For a large segment of Hawai'i's population, the statewide Kamehameha Day celebration in the first week of June means months of planning, hard work and laulima-many hands working together. In Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, the June 8 King Kamehameha Day Floral Parade attracts thousands of people from all over the island. Whether they are pa'u riders, drivers, or part of the Royal Court, the participants are there early and work tirelessly until the last celebrant heads home.

Tricia Hodson, who works in Aloha Airlines' customer service at the Keahole Airport in Kona, is this year's King Kamehameha Floral Parade commissioner for the island of Hawai'i. Appointed by the governor, the commissioner is a volunteer who accepts the responsibility and hard work-and Tricia is up to the job.

"It's a big event for Kona," Tricia says. "The reason I do this is to promote the aloha spirit and keep Hawaiian culture strong. It's a day of commemorating Kamehameha. He did a lot for the Hawaiian people by uniting all the islands."

The court, which Tricia selects, represents the different islands of Hawai'i. "This is to show the significance of Kamehameha conquering the different islands," she explains. "And while riding in the parade, the pa'u riders in their long dresses on horseback wear the flowers and colors of the islands they represent."

The trademark and highlight of Hawai'i parades, pa'u riders are a throwback to the days when horse racing was a pastime of Hawaiians, she explains. Before the race, women would wrap themselves in elegant, voluminous dresses, wear lau hala hats with feather lei, and paradearound the race track to exhibit their beauty. As parades grew in popularity, so did the riders, and today no parade is complete without them.

There are up to 100 entrants in the Kona parade, including cars, floats, trucks, marching bands and marching units. "We have to find a marshal, patriarch, matriarch, the kupuna [elders], and dignitaries from throughout the community," she continues. "We have people from Hilo, Waimea, Ka'u, all over the island.

"If it weren't for my family and friends, this parade wouldn't get done. My father gets cars from the airport and drives the kupuna's cars. My daughter, Risse Ala, and her husband, Tui Ala, pick up the cars and dignitaries at the airport and drive them in the parade. My husband, Michael Hodson Jr., is a police officer, and he gets the road closed, obtains the official documents and drives the Aloha Airlines car. My other daughter, Chrystal Hodson, and my son, Micah Hodson, have their duties too."

Micah, a sophomore at Kanu o Ka 'aina School in Waimea, chanted for the entire length of the parade last year-2.8 miles-with one night's notice. "I told him, 'This is the last minute, but I need you to chant.' He went to the ocean to practice, and the next day, he did it." He chants again this year.

"It's a state holiday and a time of remembrance," says Tricia, "when all Hawaiian people can show our pride and our love for the 'aina [land], and for the malihini [newcomers] to be spectators. This is a great celebration and you don't have to be Hawaiian to enjoy it."

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